Articles

[hockeygod]

Willie Desjardins could be key component behind Stars' hot start

11:06 PM CST on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com

If you try to get too complicated in defining the role new associate coach Willie Desjardins holds with the Stars, you might miss the point.

Yes, an associate coach is ranked higher than an assistant coach, and Desjardins jumped over the current Stars assistants on the ladder of authority when he was hired in the summer. No, he has never coached at the NHL level before and has done most of his training in junior hockey.

And no, he doesn't run any specific part of the Stars (the way former associate coach Rick Wilson was clearly the head of the defensemen).

That might lead you ask: What's the big deal about the new guy? But again, then you'd miss the beauty of what Desjardins offers to the team.

"You know what he is," Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk said. "He's a great hockey guy. He loves to study the game, he loves to talk about the game, he loves everything about the game. And that's a great guy to have around."

Desjardins, 53, is one of the components Nieuwendyk has been seeking since being named GM in 2009 – and he could be one of the key reasons for the Stars' 8-5-0 start this season. But the former head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers doesn't see it that way. A low-key guy, Desjardins simply likes to do whatever he can to help in any area he can – and he certainly doesn't want to seem like a guy who needs any credit.

"Honestly, I'm just trying to fit in and find my place, and that's all," said Desjardins, who was added in the summer to a staff that included head coach Marc Crawford and assistant coaches Stu Barnes and Charlie Huddy. "I think we learn every day, and we'll continue to learn. We're all just trying to make this team as good as it can be, and that's what I'm trying to do."

In forming his coaching staff last season, Crawford decided to take a lot of the responsibility. A veteran of more than a 1,000 NHL games as a head coach, Crawford has been in charge of a lot in stops in Colorado, Vancouver and Los Angeles . Of course, he's also worked with such strong assistant coaches as Jacques Martin, Joel Quenneville and Mike Johnston, so it's not like he doesn't know how to delegate duty.

Still, when Desjardins was hired in August, there was a question of how he would fit. Huddy coaches the defensemen, but Crawford picks the pairs during the game. Crawford runs the forwards, and that's typically a must for every head coach.

So where does that leave Desjardins?

Well, officially, he helps on the penalty kill and helps a lot with pre-scouting and opponent preparation. Unofficially, he helps with everything.

"I think he's aptly titled as associate coach, because he is more involved in the overall day-to-day operations and involved in all aspects of the team," Crawford said. "The fact that he has been a head coach before, that really helps me in that he knows what I'm dealing with and maybe what I'm thinking. To have a person who has done that before, who knows what it requires, it's just a good thing for me."

Desjardins has an interesting mix of experiences that seem to mesh well with the Stars. First off, he was a talented offensive forward as a youngster and understands the skill side of the game that the Nieuwendyk administration seems to be embracing.

Second, he has coached in several situations, including at the Canadian collegiate level, in the pro level in Japan and in Canadian major junior hockey. He also served as a coach with Canada's World Junior team in 2009 and 2010.

"He coached me in World Juniors, and he was great. Plus, I had friends in Medicine Hat, and they loved him too," said Stars winger Jamie Benn. "He's a players' coach, he's really calm, and he does a really good job of getting the team to play well together. He believes in you, so you have confidence in him."

Although it was thought Desjardins' lack of interaction with professional athletes might be a detriment, it actually has worked out well for the native of Saskatchewan. His ability to communicate with younger players has been a great addition to a Stars team that is trending young.

"He's great with video and getting the guys to understand what we're doing," Barnes said. "Guys nowadays are so visual that I do think it helps them, especially the younger players. You can tell them, but it only goes so far. But if you show them, you can see that they're getting it."

Crawford said Desjardins will go so far as to show video of drills to players so they're more ready for practice and things can get done more quickly and efficiently.

"He's a detail guy, and that's always been his strength," said Les Jackson, the Stars director of scouting and player development who, along with Western scout Shane Churla, helped make the Stars aware of Desjardins. "Churls has known him forever, and he was the guy who knew the most about him. What he did in Medicine Hat was pretty impressive."

Desjardins took over the Tigers in 2002 and immediately repaired a sinking ship. Medicine Hat had missed the playoffs for five straight seasons before Desjardins' hiring, but the Tigers went 333-182-61 in his time there, made eight consecutive playoff appearances and won two Western Hockey League championships.

In fact, one of the reasons he was given the title of associate coach was because so many teams wanted to talk to him after his work in junior hockey. However, he liked Nieuwendyk and the Stars, and his presence is already being felt.

"I like having him around, just because he's a guy who always wants to talk about hockey and coaching," Nieuwendyk said. "I think you can see already that he sparks conversations and dialogue, and out of that talk come solutions. It might not have always been his idea, but the idea maybe came out because he was there. To me, that's a pretty important thing to have in your coaching staff."

The Willie Desjardins file:

Born: Feb. 11, 1957 in Climax, Saskatchewan

Hired: By Stars as associate coach July 13, 2010

Notable: Played for Lethbridge in the WHL and tallied 61 goals and 79 assists for 140 points in 129 games. … Played at the University of Saskatchewan and was an assistant coach at the University of Calgary. … Coached briefly in Japan and helped the Seibu Bears win a league championship. … Returned to Canada to coach with the national program and took over the Medicine Hat Tigers in 2002. Led Medicine Hat to eight straight playoff appearances and two WHL championships. … Was an assistant coach on the 2009 gold medal World Junior team from Canada and head coach of the 2010 silver medal World Junior team from Canada.
—————-
Not that it makes a lot of difference but Willie was head coach at the U of Calgary for at least 6 years before going to Japan and Tim Bothwell taking over. I was an asst. coach on his staff for 6 years. Willie was supposed to come back after 2 years leave but won the Japan championship and got a big contract and stayed. Tim Bothwell stayed on. What is really sad for the U of Calgary hockey team is that when Tim went to the NHL with Atlanta Willie applied to coach there again and they hired another coach and they program has gone down hill and hasn't won Canada West since the last year I was there in 96. They went about 50 games in a row in one stretch without beating the U of Alberta. They got a new coaching staff last year but so far the same result in the middle of the pack and losing in the first round of playoffs. Willie was a great recruiter as well as great at getting a team ready to compete and those skills will help him in the NHL.
Tom

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Red sweaters not responsible for black and blue players

By Misty Harris, Postmedia News November 17, 2010

The theory that red or black uniforms give athletes an aggressive edge has long been claimed in sports research, with most of it citing the hues' evolutionary and cultural associations with such things as dominance and power.

But Team Canada might want to hold the high-fives, with a comprehensive new study putting that theory on thin ice — at least in the context of professional hockey.

Reporting in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers say no matter how they measured — penalty minutes, number of severe penalties, team wins — there wasn't a shred of meaningful evidence that black or red jerseys lead to a spike in aggressive behaviour, or even perceived aggression, among National Hockey League players.

"For more than 20 years, people have been talking about this idea that wearing black causes athletes to act more aggressively. Then, more recently, there's been talk that red might have the same effect," says co-author Jerry Burger.

"But when we actually do a controlled study, we don't find any evidence for those claims at all — which is kind of too bad, since it's a really interesting suggestion."

Between 2008 and 2010, 326 NHL games were identified in which the home team played the same opponent within a single season: once wearing a black or red uniform, once wearing a uniform of another colour. This naturally occurring experiment was made possible by the NHL's decision to let teams wear a third jersey design for a limited number of home games.

For each pair of games, researchers compared total penalty minutes, number of severe penalties (a composite of such violent infractions as roughing, fighting and game misconduct), number of games that became atypically aggressive, and team success.

Across all categories, Burger says the differences between the two jersey conditions were "so small that we can't draw any conclusions."

The study is thought to be the first to eliminate or control for what researchers describe as the "severe limitations that plagued earlier investigations."

"It's not that previous findings about colour and aggression weren't real. Being able to say that one caused the other is the hang-up," says Burger, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University.

With black, the speculation has been that athletes pick up on cultural associations between the hue and badness, subconsciously altering their behaviour accordingly. With red, an evolutionary angle has been proposed, with scientists noting links in the animal kingdom between crimson and male dominance.

That one of the most high-profile of these earlier studies drew its data from the 1970s and early '80s may be a factor, suggests a Canadian hockey historian, noting that the game has since seen sharp declines in major brawling.

"Intimidation in the NHL used to be a much larger factor than it is today," says Earl Zukerman of McGill University in Montreal. "I think if you applied the (current) study to NHL fight data from the 1970s and earlier, you may come up with entirely different findings, as that was arguably an era where fighting and other roughhouse tactics were almost encouraged."

Nicholas Holt, a University of Alberta sports psychologist, suggests the study is a call to accountability. Although it's easy to pin aggression on uniform colour, he says it makes more sense to take a hard look at team leadership.

"If a coach encourages very physical and aggressive play, then athletes will likely follow his or her instructions," says Holt, associate professor in the faculty of physical education. "We really need to think about the messages conveyed by coaches, and in youth sport parents, in order to understand athletes' behaviours."

mharris@postmedia.com

Read more: http://www.canada.com/sports/sweaters+responsible+black+blue+players/3843314/story.html#ixzz15bFIBLLS

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Eric Fink]

There is a great article that I couldn't copy/paste properly. Here is the link. It is to the US Olympic Coach magazine. It has a lot of great archieved articles as well but the most recent one, "2009 Winter" has a great article by Carol S. Dweck "Mindsets: Developing Talent through a Growth Mindset". I believe she has been mentioned on here before for her book "Mindset."

http://www.teamusa.org/resources/usoc-sport-performance/coaching-education/olympic-coach-e-magazine

If anyone figures out how to copy/paste it, that would be great.

[hockeygod]

Eric,

Great link! I will have to go back and read all the issues…

Here is the article from Dweck:

MINDSETS: Developing Talent Through a Growth Mindset

Coaches are often frustrated and puzzled. They look back over their careers and realize that some of their most talented athletes—athletes who seemed to have everything– never achieved success. Why? The answer is that these athletes didn’t have everything. They didn’t have the right mindset.

In my research, I have identified two mindsets that people can have about their talents and abilities. Those with a fixed mindset believe that their talents and abilities are simply fixed. They have a certain amount and that’s that. In this mindset athletes may become so concerned with being and looking talented that they never fulfill their potential.

People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, think of talents and abilities as things they can develop—as potentials that come to fruition through effort, practice, and instruction. They don’t believe that everyone has the same potential or that anyone can be Michael Phelps, but they understand that even Michael Phelps wouldn’t be Michael Phelps without years of passionate and dedicated practice. In the growth mindset, talent is something you build on and develop, not something you simply display to the world and try to coast to success on.

Almost every truly great athlete– Michael Jordan, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Tiger Woods, Mia Hamm, Pete Sampras– has had a growth mindset. Not one of these athletes rested on their talent; they constantly stretched themselves, analyzed their performance, and addressed their weaknesses. In the recent Olympics, silver-medal swimmer Dara Torres (age 41) and gold-medal marathoner Constantina Tomescu-Dita (age 38) defied myths about age through their training and dedication.

Research has repeatedly shown that a growth mindset fosters a healthier attitude toward practice and learning, a hunger for feedback, a greater ability to deal setbacks, and significantly better performance over time. How do the mindsets work and what can coaches do to promote a growth mindset? Before addressing these issues, let me first answer some other questions that I am often asked about the mindsets.

Questions About the Mindsets

Which mindset is correct? Although abilities are always a product of nature and nurture, a great deal of exciting work is emerging in support of the growth mindset. New work in psychology and neuroscience is demonstrating the tremendous plasticity of the brain—its capacity to change and even reorganize itself when people put serious labor into developing a set of skills. Other groundbreaking work (for example, by Anders Ericsson) is showing that in virtually every field—sports, science, or the arts—only one thing seems to distinguish the people we later call geniuses from their other talented peers. This one thing is called practice.
Are people’s mindsets related to their level of ability in the area? No, at least not at first. People with all levels of ability can hold either mindset, but over time those with the growth mindset appear to gain the advantage and begin to outperform their peers with a fixed mindset.

Are mindsets fixed or can they be changed? Mindsets can be fairly stable, but they are beliefs, and beliefs can be changed. Later on, I will describe workshops that have altered people’s mindsets and had a real effect on their motivation and performance.

How Do The Mindsets Work? The Mindset Rules

The two mindsets work by creating entire psychological worlds, and each world operates by different rules.

Rule #1.

In a fixed mindset the cardinal rule is: Look talented at all costs. In a growth mindset, the cardinal rule is: Learn, learn, learn!

In our work with adolescents and college students, those with a fixed mindset say, “The main thing I want when I do my school work is to show how good I am at it.” When we give them a choice between a challenging task they can learn from and a task that will make them look smart, most of them choose to look smart. Because they believe that their intelligence is fixed and they have only a certain amount, they have to look good at all times. Those with a growth mindset, on the other hand, say “It’s much more important for me to learn things in my classes than it is to get the best grades.” They care about grades, just as athletes care about winning the game, but they care first and foremost about learning. As a group, these are the students who end up earning higher grades, even when they may not have had greater aptitude originally.

Our studies show that it is precisely because of their focus on learning that growth mindset students end up with higher performance. They take charge of the learning process. For example, they study more deeply, manage their time better, and keep up their motivation. If they do poorly at first, they find out why and fix it.

We have found that mindsets play a key role in how students adjust when they are facing major transitions. Do they try to take advantage of all the resources and instruction available, or do they try to act as though they don’t care or already know it all? In a study of students entering an elite university, we found that students with a fixed mindset preferred to hide their deficiencies, rather than take an opportunity to remedy them—even when the deficiency put their future success at risk.

Rule #2.

In a fixed mindset, the second rule is: Don’t work too hard or practice too much. In a growth mindset, the rule is: Work with passion and dedication—effort is the key.

Those with a fixed mindset believe that if you have natural talent, you shouldn’t need much effort. In fact, having to work hard casts doubt on your ability. I believe that this is why so many enormously talented athletes never fulfill their potential. They are often the ones who have coasted along, winning with little effort, while the other athletes were sweating, struggling, and practicing. The fixed mindset “naturals” never learn to work, so that when they later reach their limits, they cannot cope. From Michael Lewis’ wonderful book, Moneyball, we all know the story of the super-talented Billy Beane, who was a colossal failure in the major leagues because he didn’t think he should have to learn or try.

Those with a growth mindset know they have to work hard, and they enjoy it. They understand that effort is what ignites their ability and causes it to grow over time.

I get letters from former child prodigies in many fields. They were led to expect that because of their talent, success would automatically come their way. It didn’t. In the world of Olympic sports, we do not do our young athletes a favor by allowing them to believe that great talent alone will transport them to the medal stand.

Recently we conducted a small study of college soccer players. We found that the more a player believed athletic ability was a result of effort and practice rather than just natural ability the better that player performed over the next season. What they believed about their coaches’ values was even more important. The athletes who believe that their coaches prized effort and practice over natural ability were even more likely to have a superior season.

Rule #3.

In a fixed mindset, the third rule is: When faced with setbacks, run away or conceal your deficiencies. In a growth mindset, the rule is: Embrace your mistakes and confront your deficiencies.

We have found over and over that a fixed mindset does not give people a good way to recover from setbacks. After a failure, fixed-mindset students say things like “I’d spend less time on this subject from now on” or “I would try to cheat on the next test.” They make excuses, they blame others, and they make themselves feel better by looking down on those who have done worse. Everything but face the setback and learn from it.

It was so interesting to see in the last Olympics how many champions prevailed in events that were at some point not their strong suit. Chris Hoy, the Scottish gold medal cyclist saw his specialty eliminated from the Olympics and had to reinvent himself. He did not sit and lament his fate or blame others; he got to work.

How Are Mindsets Communicated?

Mindsets can be taught by the way we praise. In many studies, we have gotten a very surprising result. Praising children’s or adolescents’ intelligence or talent puts them into a fixed mindset with all of its defensiveness and vulnerability. Instead of instilling confidence, it tells them that we can read their intelligence or talent from their performance and that this what we value them for. After praising their intelligence or talent, we found that students wanted a safe, easy task not a challenging one they could learn from. They didn’t want to risk their “gifted” label. Then, after a series of difficult problems, they lost their confidence and enjoyment, their performance plummeted, and almost 40% of them later lied about their scores. What should we praise?

We found that praising students’ effort or strategies (the process they engaged in, the way they did something) put students into a growth mindset, in which they sought and enjoyed challenges and remained highly motivated even after prolonged difficulty. Thus coaches might do well to focus their athletes on the process of learning and improvement and to remove the emphasis from natural talent. A focus on learning and improvement tells athletes not only what they did to bring about their success, but also what they can do to recover from setbacks. A focus on talent does not.

We have also directly taught students the growth mindset. We have been developing a software program, called Brainology, in which students learn all about the brain and how to make it work better. Further, they learn that every time they stretch themselves and learn something new, their brain forms new connections, and over time they increase their intellectual ability. Research has shown repeatedly that teaching students the growth mindset strongly enhances their motivation and their achievement.

Coaches can identify their fixed mindset athletes by asking them to agree or disagree with statements like this: “You have a certain level of athletic ability, and you cannot really do much to change that;” “Your core athletic ability cannot really be changed;” and “You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic athletic ability.” They can also ask their athletes to complete this equation: Athletic ability is ____% natural talent and ____% effort/practice. They can then work on fostering a growth mindset in their players who place an undue emphasis on fixed ability.

What About Coaches’ Mindsets?

Of course, coaches themselves can have a fixed mindset. These coaches may convey to their teams that they value natural talent above all, they may spend little time with the athletes they deem less talented, and they may be intolerant of feedback from others (since they may see feedback as impugning their own ability). Research by Peter Heslin and his colleagues shows that business managers with a fixed mindset have qualities like this. However, after workshops that teach them a growth mindset, these same managers are more eager to help their employees develop and become more receptive to feedback from others.

A growth mindset coach is also more likely to foster teamwork and team spirit. When a coach has a fixed mindset, players will be eager to impress the coach with their talent and will vie to be the superstar in the coaches’ eyes. However, if athletes know that their coach values passion, learning, and improvement, these are things that players can work together to produce.

Conclusion

At the level of the player, a growth mindset allows each individual to embrace learning, to welcome challenges, mistakes, and feedback, and to understand the role of effort in creating talent.

At the organizational level, a growth mindset is fostered when coaching staffs present athletic skills as acquirable, value passion, effort, improvement (and teamwork), not simply natural talent, and present themselves as mentors and not just talent judges.
When coaching staffs have a fixed mindset, their job is simply to find the talent. When they have a growth mindset, their job is to inspire and promote the development of talent. It is in this mindset, I believe, that they will nurture a new generation full of Olympic athletes the likes of Michael Phelps and Nastia Liukin, athletes who love their sport and bring it to the highest level.

Carol S. Dweck is Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
– Olympic Coach eMagazine Winter 2009-
http://www.teamusa.org/resources/usoc-sport-performance/coaching-education/olympic-coach-e-magazine

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Tom Molloy]

This is a pdf. translated from the Russian great Tarasov on how to coach hockey.

Attachments

• Circuit Training by Anatoli Tarasov.pdf (103 KB)

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[hockeygod]

Junior hockey concussions an 'epidemic'

London doctor's study during games leads him to see a sport in denial

By JONATHAN SHER, QMI Agency 22 November 2010

Concussions in junior hockey are epidemic, says a London doctor who also claims there are concerted efforts to suppress the problem’s scope.

For half a season last year, Dr. Paul Echlin led a team of doctors who monitored players on two unidentified junior teams a couple of rungs below the Ontario Hockey League, producing a study published this month in a medical journal.

The doctors observed games from high vantage points and immediately tested players who left the ice with possible concussions.
In just 52 games, 17 of 67 players suffered concussions, four of them twice. The problem was most acute among forwards: 12 suffered concussions.

“It’s at epidemic proportions,” Echlin said.

The prevalence was seven times higher than had been found in previous studies — a disparity Echlin attributes to his use of doctors to assess the injuries and to efforts by those in organized hockey to not acknowledge a concussion that could sideline a player.

“These athletes are suffering in silence,” he said.

There’s a culture in organized hockey that puts pressure on players to play through pain and not admit they’re injured, he said.
Officials with the Ontario Hockey Association couldn’t immediately be reached Sunday night for comment.

Echlin said that pressure led one of the two teams in the study to stop allowing the study’s doctors to examine players during games — something that was critical to the study and had been agreed to by the teams before the season.

“The reluctance to report concussion symptoms and to follow such protocols likely results from certain cultural factors such as athletes asserting their masculinity by playing through the discomfort of an injury, and the belief that winning is more important than the athlete’s long-term health,” Echlin wrote in the study published in Neurosurgical Focus, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

The results didn’t surprise ex-NHLer Eric Lindros, whose career and that of his brother Brett were cut short by concussions.
“It’s amazing a team turned (Echlin) down halfway through his study. They didn’t want him to continue on — which is fundamentally wrong.” Eric Lindros said.

Echlin is no stranger to sports injuries — he’s worked as a team doctor in hockey for the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers and in football.
Those in both sports underestimate the prevalence and harm of concussions, he said.

“There should not be fear of having players evaluated by specialists in order to protect them,” he said. “Having an evaluation is much more important than the next period or the next practice or the next game.”

Echlin hopes to change the culture of hockey, starting from the grassroots.

He’s planning a second study that would track concussions among men’s and women’s teams across Canada — he hopes to do it during the 2011-12 season.

During a concussion, the brain is subjected to trauma and a player can suffer from confusion, memory loss and sometimes loss of consciousness. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, lack of co-ordination or weakness and amnesia about events just before the blow.

Concussions can have chronic effects, too, damaging memory, judgment, social conduct, reflexes, speech, balance and co-ordination.

In January 2009, Echlin led a London conference on head injuries in hockey.

Figures published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal say 10% to 12% of male and female hockey players will sustain a head injury.
– – –
The study

Two Tier-4 junior teams (Jr. C and D levels) agreed to be tracked during part of the 2009-10 season.

Players were tested for cognitive function before the season.

Each game was watched in person by a doctor and up to three others from a pool that included kinesiologists, hockey coaches, hockey executives, a former junior player and health-care providers.

Players who suffered a suspected concussion were evaluated by the doctor during the game.

In 52 observed games, 17 players suffered concussions, four of them twice or more often.

Head shots led to 69% of the concussions; intentional hits to the head or body checks were responsible for 80%

jonathan.sher@sunmedia.ca

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Eric Fink]

Couple feeds that I follow through google reader that I think people on here might enjoy.

http://gringosnotes.blogspot.com/

This blog is written by Chuck Grillo. He is a scout for the Pitt. Penguins and has been an NHL scout for 30+ years. His blog is about everything but mostly relates to mentoring, hockey players, and excellence in people.

thetalentcode.com

Obviously this is written by Daniel Coyle, author of the book that has been discussed on here recently, "The Talent Code." He covers stories and ideas that back up is book and thoughts behind it. Great video links and articles.

http://blog.coachswen.com/

Written by Swen Nater, a basketball coach who played under legendary coach John Wooden. He writes a lot of stories from his playing days under coach wooden and they are great reads.

http://www.functionalpathtrainingblog.com/

Writes about strength training. Always has fantastic thoughts.

[hockeygod]

I dislike composite sticks – except for the couple of NHL players per team who are CAPABLE of using them (according to NHL coaches!) – for everyone else (especially for the parents having to WASTE (pay) the big money to "keep up with the Jonses" – falling into the marketing trap of the manufacturers) and kids learning how to control the puck… composites are a big waste of money in my opinion! Yes, if you have proper technique (and strength), they can increase the velocity of the shot. But kids today CANNOT receive a pass to save their souls; where wood helps (ed?) cushion the puck and provide a better 'feel', the puck bounces off of composites.

I am going to load up on wood…!
—–

Hockey's composite revolution has caused wood to vanish from NHL arenas

Extinction of the wooden stick

By Ian Walker, Vancouver Sun November 23, 2010

One is as sophisticated and advanced as Charlton Heston's chariot. The other built from space-age materials developed in laboratories by scientists in white coats.

One is as heavy and clunky as a workman's boots. The other as light and dainty as a ballerina's pointe shoes.

One is soaked with tradition. The other oozes style.

One is as outdated as a Polaroid camera. The other has the all the substance of Snooki.

I know, I know, get to the point already.

But first a quick story. It was 2004 and then-Red Deer Rebels owner/general manager/head coach Brent Sutter was so frustrated with his team's production during a four-game road trip — in which his team went 1-3 and were outscored 16-7 — that he made his players resort to using wooden sticks for a pair of weekend games upon their return. The Rebels went undefeated in the two-game set, out-scoring their opposition 5-4. Talk about a blow for technical progress.

Yet it was the last time wooden sticks were used in the Western Hockey League.

At least there's the National Hockey League though, right? The last bastion of hope for a world fixated on progress.

Actually, not so much. There is no longer a single NHL player wielding the true meaning of the word twig. Like zero. Zilch. Zip.

Even more upsetting is there probably will never be again.

"It's the end of an era," said Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Adrian Aucoin, one of the last holdouts, who switched last season. "In my case, Reebok changed factories with their shaft and the wood stick they produce now is a completely different stick. It was just not close to what I was used to. I wasn't so thrilled about it, but times change and you have to move on."

The same thing happened to Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza when his brand of choice, Sherwood-Drolet, decided to farm out the mass production of wooden sticks to such far-flung places as Estonia and China in order to concentrate on the production of composite sticks.

Same goes for 24-year-old Paul Stastny, the last of the wooden Luddites. The Colorado Avalanche centre switched from a Sherwood wooden to a Sherwood one-piece at the start of this season.

"Last season I went through a lot of wood sticks — I think what happened was they were being made at different factories so they were never quite the same although they said they were," said Stastny. "It was still the same company, but in my mind they were completely different sticks than the ones I was using before. The average person may not notice, but when you've used the same stick since bantam and you get something a little different you can tell right away. So that also played a factor in me switching over. That and technology is always getting better so it's a case of evolving with the times."

Aucoin's first game with a composite stick was on Dec. 19, 2009 against the Anaheim Ducks.

"I'd been using the new Reebok wooden ones and the shot wasn't right and something wasn't working so I grabbed a Shane Doan pattern, a Robert Lang pattern, a Peter Mueller pattern and one Warrior had made for me when I was in Chicago," said Aucoin, a former Vancouver Canuck. "I used all four sticks in a game and I scored with the Shane Doan pattern and it just felt better so basically my stick is a Shane Doan pattern with my name on it."

Until then, Aucoin had basically used the same pattern of wooden stick since college, when it was known as a Koho PP29. To put that in perspective, if you went to your doctor and he got a jar of leaches out, you'll begin to understand.

"It was true — it was the same stick from the knob to the blade," said Aucoin, who won the 2004 NHL team skills competition with a slap shot of 102.3 m.p.h. using a wooden stick while a member of the Calgary Flames. "Now with the technology there's different kick points, there's different flex points, there's different thicknesses. It really is a science. I still like my shot better with wood, but my passing and quickness is better with the one piece just because it's lighter and [because of] the technology that's there."

As recently as 25 years ago every NHL player used all-wood sticks. Things started to change with aluminum shafts in the 1980s before things evolved to today's one-piece models made of graphite, Kevlar, carbon, titanium and fiberglass.

So there you have it. Comparing all-wooden and composites sticks is like comparing Lyle Odelein and Patrick Kane. Who is better? Hmmm.

But when it comes right down to it, one of them is just too manufactured. Composite sticks are sort of like an iPod that way. Brilliant, clean, easy to use, great sound, but just not quite the same as seeing the band live.

iwalker@vancouversun.comwww.twitter.com/WalkerBigTalker
———————–
Dean, the only thing I want to know is what kind of Stick Dennis Polonich was using against us today. He got at least 5 on us. I just spent about an hour shovelling the snow in our -30 weather to clear my deck for the 0 degrees C that will be here by Friday. Then a few beer outside. Barbequing tonight but it is really steaming in the cold.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Eric wrote:
Couple feeds that I follow through google reader that I think people on here might enjoy.

http://gringosnotes.blogspot.com/

This blog is written by Chuck Grillo. He is a scout for the Pitt. Penguins and has been an NHL scout for 30+ years. His blog is about everything but mostly relates to mentoring, hockey players, and excellence in people.

thetalentcode.com

Obviously this is written by Daniel Coyle, author of the book that has been discussed on here recently, "The Talent Code." He covers stories and ideas that back up is book and thoughts behind it. Great video links and articles.

http://blog.coachswen.com/

Written by Swen Nater, a basketball coach who played under legendary coach John Wooden. He writes a lot of stories from his playing days under coach wooden and they are great reads.

http://www.functionalpathtrainingblog.com/

Writes about strength training. Always has fantastic thoughts.

Sweet! Thanks Eric. More stuff to check out. Where does all the time in the day go??!!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Hmmm…. kind of a BIG contrast to the concussion articles I have posted. I didn't mind fighting when I played – especially if I wasn't fighting! (It was part of the game and "the code" permeated the culture… to which I suscribed; otherwise, I wouldn't have played (I was young and dumb and went along with the masses.) Now that I am free of the grip of the pro dream that most young players have, (I no longer have tunnel vision, have matured and can see the big picture), I coach kids and now have kids… I am considering steering them AWAY from hockey as I see so many thing wrong with the culture of the game. It is still perpetuated as former players, even minor hockey players, go back and coach they way they were coaches. Bullying, hazing, etc still occurs. Not all coaches are bad, but it does make me worry… I realize I will need to coach minor hockey again, so I can have a positive influence, if my kids play.)

Big George was on TV last night and although I missed it, I heard that he came across as a very intelligent, thoughtful guy who didn't like his "job" – he didn't want to fight. The best fighters are those guys who truly like it – but they are far and few between. They are a bit "off" – personal experience leads me to believe that if they weren't fighting in hockey, they would be fighting off the ice and in trouble with the law (ie: Link Gaetz.) The tough guys I played with got pretty worked up (inside) and didn't like it – you ask most of them and they wished they could score goals or play another role… but the money is better than working a 9-5 job, so they steel themselves to it. Eventually, they lose their will to fight and they get replaced by younger, hungrier tough guys. I have yet to read Probert's book, but the early reviews are good.

The Rock's last word

EDITOR'S NOTE: Former Montreal Canadiens tough guy Georges Laraque will be a guest on Hockeycentral Tonight Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Ontario & East), where he will talk with Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos about the difficulties of being an NHL enforcer. The following is a blog written by Laraque for sportsnet.ca and originally published in January, 2009.

Fighting is not just the toughest job in hockey, but in all professional sports. Fighting is not easy, not easy physically nor mentally. During a fight, you pretty much fight for your life because as you know, many things can happen and on top of that, you are being watched by millions of people. And whether or not someone watches your game live, your fight will end up on YouTube forever.

In fighting you risk many injuries; the broken nose is an obvious one, but a broken orbital bone is something else and the thing people have to realize is that there is a life after hockey. So while you do this job, you have to make sure you take care of yourself.

I don't want to look like the Elephant Man when I retire if you know what I mean.

What might surprise some people is that the mental part of fighting can sometimes be tougher than the physical part. A lot of the time, fighting starts a couple days before the actual game. You look at the schedule and get really worked up because you have a game against a team that has a top tough guy and mentally that's tough. You think about the guy, you watch his fight on YouTube, you try to tell yourself it's going to be okay but it's not. No one can ever understand this pressure unless you're a fighter yourself.

I used to feel that way in my first couple years. I used to not be able to sleep before games and I would sweat in the afternoon. It was not a good feeling. Sometimes I was even praying that the other guy — or even me — would be scratched so the fight wouldn't happen. It was like this for me for about three years, but after a while you gain a reputation, you do well and get confident, and things turn around.

Now I laugh about it and I'm not nervous at all. I just know how the other guy feels before, let's say, facing me and this reassures me that it's no big deal. My old coach, Craig MacTavish in Edmonton, used to even say that when I was fighting, my heart rate wouldn't change. He couldn't be more right about that. Now I smile and I'm really calm, but it takes a lot of years to get there, and a lot of wins to be that confident.

The way it all started for me is actually quite ironic considering the type of job I have today in the NHL. All through my youth I had to fight and defend myself because of racism, and now that I'm in the NHL, it's kind of just natural for me. But don't get me wrong — I would love to be a skilled guy, make $10 million a year and ask my team to get me a guy to defend me that makes 10 times less, but unfortunately I was not talented enough and will never be! lol!

I fight because it's my job, not because I like it. How many fighters like fighting anyway? I've talked to many tough guys and I can't even name you one. We do it because it's our job; that's it.

I never talk about fights; I never look at my fights or get revved up about it. I often wish my opponent good luck and always talk to the guy in the penalty box after the fight to ask him if he's okay or say good job. I never fight mad and maybe that's an advantage in a way because you're more in control of what you're doing. I also never wish for anyone to get hurt in a fight because I respect all my fellow brothers and when did winning a fight become not enough? You don't need to embarrass the guy and if you want respect from your peers, there is a lot of stuff you have to do.

THE CODE

Which brings me to the next subject: The Code. The Code is unwritten — everyone knows it, but not everyone follows it, and those who don't are not respected. When you retire, respect is all you have left, and you want people to say that you were honourable at all times. At least I do.

The Code says things like:

*** not fighting a guy at the end of his shift

*** not jumping guys to get a head start

*** never punch a guy when he's down (that's the most important thing for me; players — and referees — know I never do)

*** and, especially, don't celebrate after a fight. You see that stuff a lot in junior hockey, but for guys who do it in the NHL, it's embarrassing and shows no respect for the other guy. Remember that everything you do comes back to you; you do that, it will happen to you because everyone is watching and talking!

You have to have a strong character to be a fighter. By that I mean when you're a tough guy, you're always an easy target. When your team loses a few games and they have to make a change, they scratch the fighter. A lot of fighters skate in the warmups all the time just so the coaches can see if the other tough guy is playing. Otherwise you're scratched. You fight for your team all season long but come playoff time, your season is done and that's the toughest thing to take because playoff hockey is the best part of hockey.

One of the best stories that I will never forget is when the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1990 and the first guy Mark Messier gave the Cup to was Dave Brown, even though he hadn't played one playoff game. But all season long Brown made sure guys like Mark had all the room they needed, and trust me they did. That was just another reason why Mark Messier will always be my all-time favourite player.

Another story about Dave Brown that I will never forget is during my first Oilers training camp when I was a rookie, I played my first exhibition game and Brown was facing me. All I could think about is when he broke Stu Grimson's face and I was terrified. I looked down so much that I could see my goalie between my legs, lol! So I did one of the smartest things I have ever done — I fought some other guy they had so I can still be alive today!

I also remember my first two fights in the American Hockey League didn't go so well. I lost to Rocky Thompson and Sasha Lakovic one after another. I was just coming out of the Quebec junior league with a big reputation, which just shows you a junior reputation doesn't mean a thing. But since then I have fought legends like Tony Twist, Jim McKenzie, Stu Grimson, Rob Ray, Tie Domi, and the all-time best Bob Probert. Again, against those guys I was just hoping to come out alive! lol! Then my reputation was established. That's also another reason why when an up-and-coming fighter asks a guy to fight to make a name for himself, you kind of have to agree because if guys didn't do it to you, you wouldn't have that respect. It has to be like a turning wheel.

FIGHTING HAS CHANGED

Fighting has changed a lot over the years. A lot of guys are lucky they weren't in the league 15 years ago. In those days, everyone was tough, everyone fought, and everyone was held accountable. Now, there's no policing, players are getting slashed in the face, guys are getting elbowed and hit in the head, and more and more guys are getting hit from behind.

Speaking of which, it's a real joke now how guys are turning their back to checks. For a physical player, it makes the job harder because you always have to be ready to stop in case the player turns his back to you. It's a joke how some players turn around at the last moment to draw a penalty. In the past, nobody turned and if you did, too bad. But hitting from behind wasn't a problem then. Guys were always ready, so there's simple way to fix it by taking away the instigator rule. Let's do an experiment and take it out for a year and see how many fewer cheap shots we would see. Of course, there would be more fights but hey, isn't fighting popular? Who are the most loved players of every team in general? Fighters! We want to grow the game; fighting would certainly help.

I remember back in the day, people would show up three hours before the game because they knew that Probert and Domi were going to get into a fight. Isn't that excitement? Now times have changed. My theory was always that the fan who worked 9 to 5, who worked his ass off and got dirty at work, identified more with a fighter because just like them we don't have it easy and have to get dirty too. Interesting theory, huh? And in blue-collar towns, it's definitely the case!

Now the big question: do we need a heavyweight? Yes, and here's tons of reasons why: The top team in the West is San Jose, leading the charge with Jody Shelley. They have a team to go to war with if you look at their lineup and also with all the skills they have. I think they skated quite freely out there. And the top team in the East is Boston, leading the charge with Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara. Those teams are not just doing great this year but are built for the physicality of the playoffs. We can talk about the Ducks that won the Cup and led the league in fighting. When you have a heavyweight on your team, that presence makes the other team accountable and could save your star player from getting hurt.

So many teams and many examples have happened in the past where teams had been suffering because they didn't have a tough guy and if some of you are still not convinced and still think I don't know what I'm talking about, ask the guys who sweat and play the game. Ask them how big of a difference they see when they play on a team that has a heavyweight compared to a team that does not have one. You'll get your response there and that from quite elite players!

For example, we can talk about how last summer, all the tough guys were signed quite quickly and before any other player, other than the obvious nine or 10 megastars. Who is the first player Pittsburgh signed this summer? Eric Goddard, three-year contract, figure it out. As much as you need a fighter, a good one that can play is hard to find and the teams that have them won't let them go, in general! lol! A sniper is easy to get: you wait for the trading deadline when pending unrestricted guys will be available and you take your pick. But at that time, all the tough guys are taken and not available, also probably because a lot of us are not making big money and are easy on the salary cap! lol!

For the fighter himself, well there are tons of different types of fighters and that's normal considering the size of some of these guys. Some guys are 6-foot-8 and some guys weigh 275 pounds. I can't complain too much since I'm 6-foot-3, 260 pounds, but for some other guys, it's another story. So when you see a guy hanging on a bit more than others, that's normal also; fighting toe-to-toe is exciting to watch but it's not necessarily the best thing for you and will give you a short career when you fight a guy with a bigger reach. Guys need to get on the inside. Showing up is what's important, not always the result.

FIGHTING IS POPULAR

A lot of people hate hockey but love the fights, so really a heavyweight also helps to sell the game. Fighting is so popular they made a fighting league in Quebec. lol! Even when you have a heavyweight who doesn't play every game, it makes a difference with your team. Guys will respect the team and won't do anything cheap, otherwise they know that even if the guy isn't playing, he will the next game and you will have to account for your actions. The only bad thing about getting a guy who doesn't play every game in the season is that he won't play in the playoffs and since it's more physical, they will miss that guy's presence.

For big guys like Brash or Boogaard, if they get in a fight and don't beat the guy, automatically people assume that they're done. But people are just smarter about how they fight and sometimes a Riley Cote fighting a bigger guy, even if he loses he gives a bigger boost to his team because of his courage, because everyone always expects the bigger guy to win. That's why showing up is the key; that you were there for your team is what matters.

There are lots of different types of tough guys. There are the ones who love to initiate and others who just get in there if they have to, and I'm one of those. When you're younger and want to prove yourself you might start more stuff, but when you get older this stuff gets old and you don't want to fight just for fun anymore. But we do if the team needs it or if, of course, the other teams are starting to take liberties. And also the tougher you are, the less you have to fight. Do you think you would ever see one of the toughest fighters in the NHL at the end of a season with 25 fights? No chance; teams respect you even more and leave you alone.

So if you're a big fan of fighting and you have one of those guys, well, sorry buddy but your guy is just too tough so you won't see many fights! lol! But hey, that's good for your team. A lot of times it depends on who you are, anyway. The coach could tell his fighters to leave certain guys alone so they don't change the momentum. Sometimes when you play on the road and fight a top guy, the crowd gets into it and that can really lift a team — momentum in a hockey game is everything. Smart coaches know how to use it! A coach will never tell you to fight someone — you should know your job and know when to do it. But they will tell you when NOT to fight, and sometimes that's a smart decision. Trust me on that! lol!

WHO ARE THE TOUGHEST GUYS?

OK, so to finish (because I can really go on and on with this blog — I will have write a book when I retire about all this) but here's the answer to the question people ask me all the time: Who are the toughest guys in the league? I'll go by conference.

The toughest guy in the East is Donald Brashear, hands down. He's the king and has been for years. Pound for pound the toughest guys are Riley Cote and Chris Neil.

And in the West, the toughest guy is Derek Boogaard and the toughest pound for pound is hands down Cam Janssen. When I'm mentioning pound-for-pound guys, I've always been impressed with those guys who weigh around 210 pounds and are fighting monsters and doing pretty well, winning their fair share of fights. Any close fight is a win for them since they're giving inches and weight. Talking about pound-for-pound guys, Tie Domi was the ultimate pound-for-pound fighter in my time with great consideration to Darren Langdon. That guy was tough and didn't care about the size of the other guy.

That's how I see it and probably just like 90 per cent of all the tough guys, I don't care about all those polls I read where people vote. And it's not just because the rankings change when one of these guy loses a fight. (For example, put Boogaard against the same guy 10 times and see how many he wins!) If you really want to know who the toughest guys are, just ask the players who play the game. Ask the guys who do the job, who actually fight and know their stuff. Not some know-it-all couch potato guy, frustrated about life who just likes criticizing everything and especially tough guys.

One of the stupidest things is when you read about those guys commenting on other guys' fights like it was the easiest thing in the world. For some people, a fight should be toe-to-toe, you each take turns punching the other guy in the face, but if you don't and are too defensive, you're a chicken, ha ha ha! There are 750 NHL players in the world, maybe about 40 tough guys. The toughest guys of any league (who can also play the game) and some people find ways to criticize them? Just comedy!

For me, I have over 120 NHL fights and when I think about that I am always surprised. This is not my personality. I like to laugh and joke around all the time, and take much more pleasure doing stuff in the community and helping kids than getting in hockey fights. I take more pleasure in scoring a goal then a big fight (which is obvious since fighting for me is much easier than scoring! lol!) But I will always be proud to say that I had a hat trick in the NHL. I have played 651 NHL regular-season games so far, but I take more pride in the 53 playoff games that I have played; for a tough guy to have played that many games in the post-season shows how much more than a one-dimensional player I became. For that I have to thank Ron Low, Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish for making me a better player and giving me more ice time than most guys doing this job, because for some of my fellow brothers, ice time is a much bigger fight. But stay strong my brothers, they still need you guys!

Thank for reading my blogs. I hope you enjoyed them and they were all written by me with all my honesty. This is your new NHL! Happy New Year to everyone, I wish you all the best. God bless!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, I am saddened to read that you are considering keeping your kid's out of hockey.

Some of my best memories and most fulfilling experiences were coaching my son and one of my daughters in minor hockey. My son played for 15 years and never got into a fight. He was never hazed and made friends that he still hangs out with. Even though he is in Toronto now the way he gets to meet other people is by going and playing pick up a few times a week. My daughter played one season then tried a new sport every year, but it was a good bonding experience we shared.

There are some idiots in the game and some coaches think it is still 1973 and intimidation is the way to play but these kind of people are few and far between. They prepare the kid's for the idiots they will have to deal with later in life. So a good life lesson.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[hockeygod]

Tom,

Yeah, it saddens me too! I won't discourage it but if they decide to play, I will be there front and centre as coach. I don't want to be the "typical hockey dad" in the bad way, but I want to make sure they receive good coaching and are playing in a culture of respect. I am going to encourage them to be active and have fun. Since we are cyclists and motor-bikers, we will no doubt try to steer them in that direction… then we can continue to have some bonding moments!

You did a great job with Jimmy – I saw how you practiced with them that year with the midgets and after meeting him a few times, he seems like a nice young man. I guess I have seen some absolutely disgusting stuff first hand – as a player, a coach, a mentor, a skill academy teacher, and "just another face in the crowd." Coaches / adults should never underestimate how much of an influence we / they have an young people!

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Bitter sweet

Nick Kypreos

November 24, 2010

I have to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect from our 30-minute special on fighting with Georges Laraque on Hockeycentral Tonight

With blindside hits and checking from behind, fighting is not exactly the hot-button topic of the day.

Yet I was extremely surprised at the number of people who were eagerly waiting to watch it. I think part of the reason is because it wasn’t another discussion on the merits of fighting and whether it belongs in our game. We all know that's been done to death, not to mention the NHL isn’t in any hurry to get rid of it anyway. Our show was simply about the human element involved in fighting and an inside glimpse through the eyes of the guys that live it.

First, let me say no enforcer ever grows up dreaming of being the team’s designated tough guy. Most fighters have had mild-to-great success putting the puck in the net at some point in their lives. Through minor hockey all the way up to junior and the American Hockey League, most of the guys who fight could score with some regularity. But if that success doesn’t follow you to the NHL level, you simply make a quick decision to find an alternative way to contribute and stay in the league.

As they say, it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it, and we are, after all, dealing with guys that want to play so badly that they are willing to do almost anything to stay. I found it interesting that Laraque and I approached fighting from polar opposites.

He said he fought calm and confident, while I fought scared and nervous. Perhaps if I had four more inches in height and reach, not to mention an additional 45 lbs, I wouldn’t have felt my heart pounding through my chest like it did every time I fought. Everyone thinks Ryan VandenBussche ended my career, but the truth is wear and tear did most of the damage, as did my lack of hunger to continue to do it.

I simply didn't have the sustaining power to fight anymore.

When I broke into the pros, six feet and 200 lbs was a good size to fight with. Twelve years later I was well below average. I could no longer hold off bigger, stronger guys craving for success.

Listening to Florida’s Darcy Hordichuk talk about how a couple of bad fights could get you to the unemployment line was a quick reminder of how fighters live with different insecurities than most other players.

A bad week, month or year for a scorer is described as being an off year. Yet a bad week for a fighter may end his career. Case in point: Raitis Ivanans in Calgary who lost badly against Steve MacIntyre. Will he truly recover from it both physically and psychologically? If not, his career is over as fast as it started.

I also feel fortunate that I was single during my career and didn’t have to deal with explaining to my children why my face looks like it just went through a meat grinder on some nights.

Listening to Nashville’s Wade Belak tell the story of misleading his children about how he makes a living in an effort to protect them was sweet and a little bit sad at the same time. You can call us all crazy for what we endured during our hockey careers and argue all day long it’s not needed in the game, but what you can't do is say its not deemed the most respected job in hockey by all the players.

Telling your teammates every single night: "I've got your back," is the most noble gesture among the guys that play.

People who have day jobs should feel so lucky.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Tough way to make a living

November 23, 2010

BY WEB STAFF
sportsnet.ca

A few weeks ago, in the Hockeycentral viewing room at Sportsnet, analysts Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean were going through the usual routine of watching every game being played in the National Hockey League that night.

The sound was down on the New York Rangers-Philadelphia Flyers game, but when Ranger Derek Boogaard squared off with Flyers enforcer Jody Shelley, a producer grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

For perhaps 20 seconds, the 6-foot-7 Boogaard and the 6-foot-3 Shelley rained punches down on each other's head. As the Hockeycentral group watched, the usual "wows" and "oh mans" emanated around the room, but sitting quietly — watching without a word, his face almost wincing with each blow that landed — was Kypreos.

For eight NHL seasons Kypreos worked as an enforcer, until one night in 1997 when a Ryan VandenBussche punch ended his career.

As the Boogaard-Shelley fight ended and the group went back to work, Kypreos said quietly, to no one in particular, "Man, I can't believe I used to do that. My head hurts just thinking about it."

Then, snapping out of a memory perhaps better forgotten, he said more clearly: "It's a tough way to make a living, boys."

* * *

It is that; the toughest job in sports. There is no role in any team sport that is similar to that of the enforcer in the NHL.

It is a job that comes with the threat of devastating injury, the stress of preparing — sometimes weeks in advance — for the next big opponent, the pressure to not be embarrassed in front of thousands of screaming fans.

On Tuesday former NHL player Georges Laraque was a guest on a special edition of Hockeycentral Tonight titled "The Toughest Job in Sports" where he discussed life as an enforcer with Kypreos.

One of the topics was premeditated fights that occur during games, of which Laraque has been involved in a few.

"The way the rules are now with the instigator rule and everything, what are you going to do?" Laraque said. "You can't jump a guy anymore. You've got to make sure the guy's engaging.

"Most of the fights you see in the NHL today, the guys look at each other, they may not say anything but they nod their heads and stuff (and they go)."

Kypreos said there is a lot that goes into a fight that the fan might not know about, such as a personal history between two guys, what might have been said in warm-ups, and so on.

"You want to get your team into it, you want to get the crowd into it," Kypreos said. "(There are) many different reasons (you'll have a staged fight)."

* * *

One of the toughest parts of the gig is waiting for that opportunity to play.

"That would probably be the toughest, just the mental aspect," Edmonton's Steve MacIntyre said. "You know, coming to the game and you might not get in the game. You might not get the minutes you want. You have to realize you're here for a reason and you do your job and you do it well."

Florida's Darcy Hordichuk agreed. He has two fights so far this season in an average of four minutes and fifty seconds of ice time per game.

"Us fourth-liners, we get our five or six minutes a game and that can be tough sometimes when you're sitting on the bench and all of a sudden someone runs over one of your guys and you're expected to fight him whether you like it or not," Hordichuk said.

That waiting can be stressful. Colorado's David Koci, who at 6-foot-6 and 238 pounds you would think would have no fear, admits that not knowing if he will fight each game can play on the nerves.

"Of course, I've been nervous and lots of guys are nervous," said Koci. "It's different than boxers because boxers know they'll get in a fight. You kind of don't know but you still have to play hockey and that's a little bit stressful sometimes."

Nashville's Wade Belak, who has more than 100 fights on his record in his 14 seasons, also admits to that stress.

"It's hard not to be (stressed)," Belak said. "The anticipation of that buildup, you can't sleep, you're nervous, don't want to be embarrassed, especially at home.

"It's stressful."

* * *

That stress also translates to the fighters' family and friends. It's unlikely moms and dads envisioned their young hockey stars growing up to be enforcers; nine-year-olds dream of being Sidney Crosby, not Derek Boogaard. And it can be even tougher when the fighter is a dad.

"My kids have only been to a couple of my games," Belak said. "Against Florida I fought Georges Laraque and my youngest was in the crowd crying. I don't like to see that. It's tough."

"My mom absolutely hates it," said Boston's Brian McGrattan, who is in his sixth season in the NHL and already has 53 fights in the NHL, according to the website hockeyfights.com. "She can't watch. My brother and my dad, even my dad gets a little, when he sees me going up against a big guy he gets a bit nervous. My brother loves it, my buddies love it, but my mom can't watch. She just doesn't want to see me get hurt."

That possibility definitely exists when there are players such as Boogaard in the league. He is considered by most players as the NHL's heavyweight champion, a position of honour held by such luminaries as Dave (The Hammer) Schultz, the late Bob Probert and recently retired Laraque. His fights-per-season have decreased in his six seasons in the NHL, mostly because others don't want to tangle with him.

"He knows what he's doing," Belak said. "He trains for it, which is probably the scariest thing. You have to be smart when fighting him. You have to stay out of his reach.

"He hits hard; has a long reach. He's just a big human being."

* * *

Boogaard, for his part, seems unbothered by the whole process, responding to a question on whether he finds the job tough with a playful smile and quip: "No, maybe a stress reliever."

But he does acknowledge the threat of injury that exists, as do most enforcers. It would be foolish not to. Kypreos' career ended with a concussive punch, and two years ago, Don Sanderson died after hitting his head on the ice in a fight while playing for the Whitby Dunlops of Ontario's Major League Hockey circuit.

"There's no doubt about it, the career of a fighter is a lot shorter than most guys because nowadays the guys are getting bigger and stronger and you get hit a couple of times and you don't know if you play again," Hordichuk said.

"People don't understand the pressure that tough guys are under. It doesn't matter who you are. It takes one punch to the chin and you're down in front of 17,000 fans.

"And if you go down too many times and you're out of a job in this league."

* * *

Watching a clip of one of Laraque's fight during Tuesday's show, Kypreos was dumbfounded when he heard Laraque say, "Good luck" to the other player before a pre-arranged fight.

"Good luck? Are you nuts?" Kypreos said. "I don't want a guy having good luck against me!"

For Laraque, however, it was just the job and animosity never came before sportsmanship.

"I say that every fight I have," Laraque said. "I always tell the guy, 'Good luck.' That's just the way I am. I never fight mad."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[hockeygod]

Good read to make us thankful. Mandi was featured on HNIC and during this past year's draft when her brother was taken by St. Louis. Mandi played at Notre Dame in Wilcox SK prior to heading south on a scholarship. I saw her play and wanted to recruit her…

For Mandi Schwartz and Family, Truly Time To Be Thankful
By David Whitley
National Columnist
November 25 2010

SEATTLE – The Schwartz family can barely recall this Thanksgiving. Not the American one on Thursday, but the Canadian one last month.

The daughter was near death. About all Mandi Schwartz remembers is hallucinating about her fiancé. The brothers were away at college, shielded from the sight of their sister with up to 13 IV bags dripping into her body.

The parents?

"I can't remember a lot of it. I think it was too much to handle," Rick Schwartz said recently. "I'm starting to forget things. My mind's going a little bit."

They are from Saskatchewan, where Thanksgiving was observed Oct. 11. Back then the Schwartzes were just thankful Mandi was alive. Now they have reason to celebrate.

"You feel like she's got a life again," Rick said.

It's not the perfect Thanksgiving story, but nobody who gathered here last weekend was complaining. They've come too far for that.

Mandi Schwartz, a Saskatchewan native, has been in and out of chemotherapy for more than 20 months since first being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December 2008. On Aug. 31, Schwartz entered remission once again after completing additional chemotherapy. She underwent a daily pair of hour-long radiation sessions between Sept. 15 and 17, and had another two days of chemotherapy on Sunday and Monday to prepare for the transplant.

Mandi and her parents moved here in July for the final showdown against cancer. By then the story was so well-known one of Mandi's new doctors came up and said she was honored to meet her.

Mandi is the Yale hockey player whose search for a transplant donor galvanized her school, her sport and thousands of people who'd never heard the phrase "acute myeloid leukemia."

She was originally diagnosed two years ago. After months of hospitals, treatments and anxiety, nothing would compare to a transplant.

"This is the hardest hockey game you'll ever play," a nurse told Mandi.

Like any hockey game, it's been a team effort. Mandi still can't quite grasp why her plight has inspired so many.

"I never thought I was that popular," she said.

There have been fundraisers galore. Thousands of people lined up to get their cheeks swabbed to see if their bone marrow would match. Many more volunteered to donate blood from umbilical cords.

Finding a suitable donor was just the opening drama. There were no medical guarantees when the Schwartzes pulled into Seattle in a donated RV. They settled into a little two-bedroom apartment near the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

There was lovely view of Lake Union and neighborhood of rolling hills. The walk to the SCCA offered an uphill trek where Mandi could gauge her condition. Not that she was in any shape to enjoy the scenery or fresh air.

The blood-cord drive had found two matches. They weren't perfect due to Mandi's mixed Ukranian-Russian genetic heritage, but they were close enough. The plan could be summed up simply enough: Kill the existing cancer. Inject new cells. Voila! A new immune system.

If only it were that simple.

The cancer returned a week before the scheduled transplant. Mandi was pounded with more radiation and chemotherapy. She went into remission and doctors moved fast.

A stem-cell isn't your usual transplant. There are no organs switched or tense 16-hours surgeries. On Sept. 22, two innocuous-looking bags of fluid were hooked to Mandi's arm. The entire procedure took less than an hour.

That was the calm. Then came the storm.

"Having a transplant is like someone sending you to hell and telling you to crawl back," said Carol Schwartz, Mandi's mother.

Nobody knew if the new stem cells would engraft in the bone marrow. With no immune system, the risk of infection was high.

Mandi developed lung infections and mucositis, a painful intestinal inflammation. She added 35 pounds of water weight. The days were marked by vomiting and delirium.

At one point doctors considered using an experimental drug that would have cost $2,000 a week. Her parents traded 24-hour shifts at the hospital, catching cat naps on the chair by Mandi's bed. Sometimes there was no napping at all.

"I'm a chicken," Rick said. "I get so worried when I hear about things that could happen. I must have aged 20 years in the past two. My wife handles it better than I do."

"I don't know. I just know every day with Mandi is a good day," Carol said. "I mean, where would you go if you were scared she might not get through it? If you knew how strong she was and how hard she worked in her teenage years to train. You put a lot of faith in her physical conditioning.

"It's hard to feel sorry for yourself when she's the one battling through it. You put on a happy face and try to be as positive as she is."

Such talk prompts an embarrassed smile from Mandi. Her friends at Yale always raved about her sunny outlook and stoicism. But Mandi admits there have been plenty of moments she felt anything but positive.

What helps her, what has helped everyone in Seattle, is knowing how many people have been waiting and watching and hoping and helping.

From Brennan Turner, a former Yale hockey player who organized donor-registration drives across Canada, to her teammates who recently "adopted" a sick 9-year-old girl in Mandi's honor.

Her youngest brother, Jaden, was drafted in the first round of the June NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues. He's been playing this fall alongside brother Rylan at Colorado College. Rival fans will come up and wish Mandi well.

"She's always had that affect on people," Jaden said. "But this has just added to it."

The family's gratitude even extends to Dr. Tedd Collins. He's the New Haven immunologist whose daughter went through the same ordeal as Mandi. She didn't make it, which prompted Collins to start two charities promoting blood-cord transplants.

It turned out Collins had a history of shady fundraising. He's now under investigation for fraud, but Rick said he never expected nor wanted any money from Collins.

"He did nothing but help us," Rick said. "I have to give the man credit."

The Blues donated $10,000 to cancer research in Mandi's name. Last week, a group of friends in Saskatchewan did the same.

Insurance takes care of Mandi's medical expenses, but the family's expenses aren't covered. The money raised has helped her fiancé, Kaylem Prefontaine (pictured right), travel from Saskatchewan to Seattle every few weeks.

He's an engineering student who met Mandi in high school. It wasn't love at first sight, but that followed soon enough. In one of her toughest stretches in the intensive care unit last year, Kaylem showed up with gaggle of balloons and popped the question.

"One of the balloons also popped," he said.

It wasn't a bad omen.

"You can see her spirits pick up when he's around," Sandy said.

That's one reason last weekend was special. Kaylem, who's a good enough hockey player to be invited to tryout for Canada's world junior team, came to Seattle.

Jaden and Rylan also flew in. It was the first time everybody had been together since Mandi left Saskatchewan. It's a good thing everybody didn't show up for the Canadian Thanksgiving.

After 31 days in the hospital, Mandi was well enough to move back to her apartment. It wasn't much more than a hospital room with a better view, however.

She would still routinely spend eight to 10 hours a day at the hospital. Then she'd get home and Rick or Carol would hook her up to another platelet-pushing IV throughout the night, or they gently remind her to take one of the 35 pills she ingests daily.

And the worst part?

"I wasn't strong enough to get out of the bathtub," Mandi said.

It was pretty depressing for a 22-year-old who used to skate joyfully for hours. But Mandi's blood-cell counts have improved in the past few weeks. She's now down to three or hours of infusions a day.

"The doctors sense her body is recovering," Carol said. "They're giving her a little more freedom."

At first, her legs were barely getting her up that hill when she walked to the hospital. The risk of infection is still high, so her parents are always nearby with the trusty bottle of hand sanitizer.

Her brothers weren't sure what to expect when they showed up Friday. They'd talk to their parents almost every day, but Rick and Carol always sugarcoated the report on Mandi. She may have spent hours throwing up, but it would come out: "She's not having a great day."

It was all so the boys won't worry, of course. But the boys couldn't help it.

They were little hockey prodigies, talent honed from countless afternoons on their makeshift rink behind their house. Jaden and Rylan would smooth the ground, haul pails of water from house and let the Canadian weather do the rest.

Their sister would join the bucket brigade. If Ivy League opponents said she played a relentless game, there was a reason.

"I toughened her up," Rylan said.

When Mandi was in ICU last year, he would go outside and tend to the old rink. He wanted the ice to be ready for her return.

"That's how he dealt with it," Carol said.

At least the boys didn't have to deal with Mandi from a month ago. Her face is still puffy from the steroids and she gets exhausted in no time. But doctors encourage her be physically active, so the family headed to a Western Hockey League game Saturday night.

They stopped at a sports bar for dinner beforehand. The games and music and clattering dishes made it hard to hear. As they crammed into a corner booth, Rick looked down the table at his daughter.

Mandi gets cold easily, so she wore a ski jacket, ski cap, gloves and scarf. She closed her eyes and rested her head on Kaylem's shoulder. Jaden gently pressed his hand against the hood of her jacket, trying to help keep her warm.

"We don't know what she's going through, right?" Rick said. "Even though she's doing pretty good, we really don't know."

"She knows she's got to get out and do something," Carol said. "We'll see if she lasts the night."

They passed the hand sanitizer around the table and feasted on nachos, burgers and pizza. Then it was off to the ShoWare Center to watch the Seattle Thunderbirds play Everett Silvertips.

Mandi made it through all three periods. There was a promotion after the game in which women were invited down to the ice. They could take a shot at open goal and win a turkey.

"Come on, Mandi," Rylan said. "Take snipe."

"I just want to go home," she said.

No problem. The official family Thanksgiving was the next day and Carol had already bought a turkey breast.

The boys had a late-afternoon flight back to Colorado Springs. They won't be back before Mandi is scheduled to leave Seattle.

Barring complications, patients usually recover well enough to go home 100 days after a transplant. That would be New Year's Eve for Mandi. A full recovery takes about a year.

"You don't go day by day. You go week by week," Rick said. "It gets a little better each week."

Mandi has asked Rylan for one of his accounting books, just to get her academic mojo going again. She's just about able to bathe herself now. She's hoping for a wedding next summer.

Complications will inevitably arise. There's always the danger her body will reject the new immune system.

Everybody knows this hockey game is far from over. But as they gathered to eat turkey and homemade pierogies, they knew just getting to this point was reason to celebrate.

"I can feel my legs getting stronger," Mandi said.

That hill doesn't seem as quite steep as it used to be. And wherever it leads, Mandi knows she'll never walk alone.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."

[Author]

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